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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

张先·卜算子·恨君不似江楼月

Bu Suan Zi · I Hate That You Are Not Like the River-Tower Moon

张先

Zhang Xian

婉约graceful 离愁parting sorrow

卜算子·恨君不似江楼月恨君不似江楼月，南北东西，南北东西，只有相随无别离。
恨君却似江楼月，暂满还亏，暂满还亏，待得团圆是几时？

I hate that you are not like the river-tower moon: north, south, east, west, north, south, east, west, it only follows, no parting.
I hate that you are just like the river-tower moon: briefly full then waning, briefly full then waning—when shall we be reunited?

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Meaning

I hate that you are not like the moon above the river-tower. North, south, east, west, it always follows without leaving. Yet I also hate that you are just like that river-tower moon. It is briefly full then wanes; when will there be lasting reunion?

恨你不像那江楼上的明月。无论南北东西，它总相随不去，没有别离。可又恨你就像那江楼明月。它暂圆又渐缺，何时才能长久团圆？

Appreciation

This lyric's wonder lies in the two contradictory metaphors of 'not like' and 'just like', using the same river-tower moon as both positive and negative ends, writing 'hate' as lingering and tender, unreasonable yet wonderful. Zhang Xian (990–1078), courtesy Zixian, an important early-Northern-Song lyricist, alongside Liu Yong called 'Zhang Three Shadows'. This lyric uses the 'river-tower moon' as metaphor, writing a boudoir woman's petulant grievance toward her far-travelling lover. Northern-Song urban commerce flourished; men travelling for trade, study, office were many, and boudoir-grief themes thrived.

【白话串讲】张先写一个女子：“恨君不似江楼月，南北东西，只有相随无别离”——恨你不像江楼月，月亮处处跟着我。“恨君却似江楼月，暂满还亏”——可你又像月亮，刚圆就缺。两个比喻，把相思说绝了。【意象与手法】全词妙在“不似”与“却似”的两重矛盾比喻，以同一江楼月作正反两端，把“恨”写得辗转缠绵、无理而妙【情感与主旨】张先（990—1078），字子野，北宋前期重要词人，与柳永并称“张三影” 【名句点睛】中高考常考：一、修辞，双重比喻（反喻）的精巧——同一“江楼月”既言“不似”又言“却似”，分析其矛盾统一中的深情

Background

Zhang Xian (990–1078), courtesy Zixian, an important early-Northern-Song lyricist, alongside Liu Yong called 'Zhang Three Shadows'. This lyric uses the 'river-tower moon' as metaphor, writing a boudoir woman's petulant grievance toward her far-travelling lover. Northern-Song urban commerce flourished; men travelling for trade, study, office were many, and boudoir-grief themes thrived. The short lyric in the hands of Yan, Ou, Zhang turned from wine-feast songs to writing daily feeling. This lyric sets metaphor with the moon's two faces, advancing a layer to write 'hate', ingeniously conceived, a representative of Zhang Xian's freshly-conceived lyric, also showing his absorption of folk yuefu repetition.

《卜算子·恨君不似江楼月》为北宋词人张先所作。张先（990—1078），字子野，乌程人，北宋词人，有“张三影”之称。此词以江楼月写离别之情：恨君不似江楼月，南北东西，南北东西，只有相随无别离；恨君却似江楼月，暂满还亏，暂满还亏，待得团圆是几时？全词以月之相随写相聚之愿、以月之圆缺写离别之恨，比喻精妙，是张先词的名篇。张先词以含蓄隽永著称，此词正是其代表。

Art

The whole lyric's wonder lies in the two contradictory metaphors of 'not like' and 'just like', using the same river-tower moon as both positive and negative ends, writing 'hate' as lingering, tender, unreasonable yet wonderful. The first part 'north, south, east, west... only follows, no parting' wishes you were like the moon's following; the second part 'briefly full then waning... when shall we reunite' hates that you are like the moon's waning. The same image turns out opposite longings; the infatuation is fully shown. The repeated reduplication follows yuefu folk song, rhythm pressing like murmur, showing deep grace within the plain.

《卜算子·恨君不似江楼月》艺术上以比喻的巧妙与复沓的节奏见长。全词四句，层层写来：“恨君不似江楼月”写其不似月——“不似江楼月”，则不能如月之相随；“南北东西，南北东西，只有相随无别离”写月之相随——“南北东西”叠用，写月无论何处皆相随，“只有相随无别离”写月无别离；“恨君却似江楼月”写其却似月——“却似江楼月”，则又如月之圆缺；“暂满还亏，暂满还亏，待得团圆是几时”写月之圆缺——“暂满还亏”叠用，写月满即亏，“待得团圆是几时”写团圆之无期。全词以“不似月”写其不相随、以“却似月”写其有圆缺，正反设喻，复沓回环，正是张先词“含蓄隽永”的风格。

Allusions

This lyric has no obvious factual allusion, purely uses the immediate scene (river-tower moon) as vehicle, belonging to the 'comparison-and-eloquence' tradition rather than allusion. Its 'briefly full then waning' transforms the common image of the moon's fullness and lack, darkly fitting Su Shi's 'men have sorrow and joy, parting and meeting; the moon has clear and dim, full and wane' as a foresound, yet Zhang Xian uses it for boudoir grief, stressing the hanging wait of 'when shall we reunite'. The reduplication syntax inherits the Book of Songs and Han yuefu's lingering tune, bringing folk form into the lyric, making the grievance seem natural and true—a model of Song lyrics absorbing folk style.

《卜算子·恨君不似江楼月》用典少而比喻自明。“江楼月”以江楼之月写月之常随与圆缺；“南北东西”写月之随行无方；“暂满还亏”写月之盈虚圆缺。全词以月为喻写离别，不用深典而情致自深。张先以“张三影”著称，其词善用“影”字写景，亦善以物喻情，此词正是其以月喻情的代表作——以月的相随与圆缺，写聚散离合。

Commentary

Chen Tingzhuo's Bai Yu Zhai Ci Talk said Zhang Xian's short lyrics 'have restrained places, also have effusive places'; this lyric exactly uses plain language to voice deep grievance. Modern Yu Pingbo's 'Tang-Song Lyric Selection Annotated' said of it 'tumbling to make a stance, grievance yet not angry, gaining yuefu's lingering intent'. Shen Jifei's Cao Tang Shi Yu judged: 'using the moon's two faces to figure man, infatuated, grievous, feeling to the extreme.' Critics of all ages mostly grant its conception's wit, holding it an early example of Song boudoir-grief short lyrics winning by 'contradictory metaphor'.

《卜算子·恨君不似江楼月》是张先词的名篇，也是北宋词中以月喻情的代表作。此词以“恨君不似江楼月”与“恨君却似江楼月”正反设喻，向为论者称道。论者多赏其复沓回环的写法——“南北东西，南北东西”与“暂满还亏，暂满还亏”的叠用，音节回环而情深意切；“只有相随无别离”写月之相随，正是相聚之愿的寄托。张先词以含蓄隽永著称，此词正是其代表——以月之圆缺写离别之恨，比喻精妙而情致深婉。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Bu Suan Zi' double-tune forty-four characters词牌·卜算子

Rhyme Oblique rhyme (moon, parting, wane, when etc., by the tune)《卜算子》为双调，上下片各四句，押仄声韵。此词用韵：离、时（支部），以平声“离”“时”收韵而多仄声，音节回环。

Tone pattern Each part four lines two oblique rhymes, level-oblique by 'Bu Suan Zi' form《卜算子》句式以五、七言相间，音节复沓。此词上片以“南北东西，南北东西”的叠用写月之相随，音节回环；下片以“暂满还亏，暂满还亏”的叠用写月之圆缺，音节低回。全词以复沓的节奏写离别之情，声调与情致相合，是宋词中含蓄隽永的一路。

Reading note This lyric's line forms are uneven; the repeated lines follow folk-song reduplication.《卜算子·恨君不似江楼月》为词牌《卜算子》，是张先词的名篇。此词以江楼月写离别之情：上片写“恨君不似江楼月”，月能相随而君不能；下片写“恨君却似江楼月”，月满即亏如聚而即离。正反设喻、复沓回环，以月之相随与圆缺写聚散离合，比喻精妙而情致深婉，正是张先词“含蓄隽永”的风格。

Line by line

恨君不似江楼月，南北东西，南北东西，只有相随无别离。

I resent you are not like the moon over the river tower — north, south, east, west, north, south, east, west, it only follows, never parting.

恨你不像江楼上的明月，无论南北东西，南北东西，都只有相随而无别离。

I wish you were not unlike the moon above the river tower: whether north, south, east, or west — north, south, east, west — it follows only, and never parts.

上片写恨君不似月之相随。“恨君不似江楼月”写恨其不似月——“恨”写其怨，“不似江楼月”写其不如江楼之月；“南北东西，南北东西，只有相随无别离”写月之相随——“南北东西”叠用，写月无论何地皆相随，“只有相随无别离”写月只相随而无别离。四句写恨君不似月：君不似江楼月，不能如月之南北东西皆相随、无别离。以“恨君不似”写其怨君之离，以“南北东西”的叠用写月之相随，正是张先以月喻情的笔法——月能相随，而君不能，故恨之。

The upper stanza writes resenting that the beloved is not like the moon in following. 'I resent you are not like the moon over the river tower' — 'resent' writes reproach, 'not like the moon over the river tower' that he falls short of it. 'North, south, east, west, north, south, east, west, it only follows, never parting' writes the moon's following — 'north, south, east, west' reduplicated, the moon following wherever one goes; 'only follows, never parting' that it accompanies without separation. Four phrases write resenting that he is not like the moon: he is not the tower moon, unable to follow north, south, east, west without parting. Writing reproach for separation through 'resent you are not like,' and the moon's following through the reduplicated 'north, south, east, west,' is Zhang Xian's brush of using the moon for feeling — the moon can follow, but the beloved cannot, hence the resentment.

恨君却似江楼月，暂满还亏，暂满还亏，待得团圆是几时？

I resent you are too like the moon over the river tower — briefly full then waning, briefly full then waning; when, oh when, shall we be reunited?

恨你却像江楼上的明月，暂满还亏，暂满还亏，要等到团圆又是几时？

I wish you were like the moon above the river tower: briefly full then on the wane, briefly full then on the wane; when will the time of reunion come?

下片写恨君却似月之圆缺，是全词的正反映照。“恨君却似江楼月”写恨其却似月——“却似”写其偏偏像月；“暂满还亏，暂满还亏，待得团圆是几时”写月之圆缺——“暂满还亏”叠用，写月暂满即亏，“待得团圆是几时”写团圆无期。四句写恨君却似月：君似江楼月，月满即亏，正如相聚即离，团圆无期。以“恨君却似”写其怨君之离，以“暂满还亏”的叠用写月之圆缺，与上片“恨君不似”正反相照：不似月则不能相随，似月则暂满还亏，两难之间，正是离别的无奈。以“待得团圆是几时”的反问收束，情深意切，正是张先词含蓄隽永的归结。

The lower stanza writes resenting that he is too like the moon in its waxing and waning, the positive-negative mirror of the ci. 'I resent you are too like the moon over the river tower' — 'too like' that he is precisely like the moon. 'Briefly full then waning, briefly full then waning; when, oh when, shall we be reunited?' writes the moon's phases — 'briefly full then waning' reduplicated, the moon briefly full then failing; 'when shall reunion come' that reunion has no date. Four phrases write resenting that he is too like the moon: he is the tower moon, full then waning, like meeting then parting, reunion without date. Writing reproach through 'resent you are too like,' and the moon's phases through the reduplicated 'briefly full then waning,' mirrors the upper stanza's 'resent you are not like' in positive and negative: not like the moon means unable to follow, like the moon means briefly full then waning; between the two horns of the dilemma lies the helplessness of parting. Closing in the rhetorical question 'when shall reunion come?' — deep in feeling — is precisely the restrained, pregnant conclusion of Zhang Xian's ci.

Study

Word focus

恨 The two 'hate' characters are truly love to the extreme breeding hate; within the grievance is attachment. 两见“恨君”之“恨”，写其怨君，是全词情感的核心字。“恨”写怨恨，而此处之恨非仇怨，而是因爱生怨——恨君不似月之相随，恨君却似月之圆缺。这一字写其怨之深：不是无情之恨，而是深情之怨；不是绝情之恨，而是无奈之怨。以“恨”写怨，正是张先以月喻情、以怨写爱的笔法。

相随 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “只有相随无别离”之“相随”，写明月相随，是全词写相聚之愿的关键词。“相随”写相伴相从——月无论南北东西皆相随，只有相随而无别离。这一词写月之相随，正是相聚之愿的寄托：月能相随，而君不能；君若能如月之相随，则无别离之恨。以“相随”写愿，正是张先以月喻情、寄相聚之愿的笔法。

暂满还亏 'briefly full then waning': writes the moon's fullness and lack, figuring few meetings many partings, condensed and grieving. “暂满还亏”之“暂满还亏”，写月暂满即亏，是全词写离别之恨的关键词。“暂满”写暂时圆满，“还亏”写随即亏缺——月满即亏，正如聚而即离。这一词写月之圆缺：不是常满之月，而是暂满还亏；不是长久团圆，而是暂聚即离。以“暂满还亏”写月，正是张先以月之圆缺写聚散离合的笔法——团聚短暂，离别常在。

团圆 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “待得团圆是几时”之“团圆”，写团圆之愿，是全词归结的关键词。“团圆”写家人团聚、月圆人圆——待得团圆，又是几时？这一词写团圆之无期：不是即将团圆，而是遥遥无期；不是可待之事，而是难以企及之愿。以“待得团圆是几时”的反问写团圆之无期，正是张先词含蓄隽永的归结——团圆之愿，渺茫难期。